Providence Bruins vs Manchester Monarchs

Three first period goals proved insurmountable as the Monarchs dropped their home opener 4-3 to the Providence Bruins.

Martin Jones takes over as the number one goaltender for the recently departed Jeff Zatkoff who is now plying his trade with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Jones (2-1-0) got off to a shaky start in the first when he played the puck from behind his net and tried unsucessfully to clear it out. Jamie Tardiff made the interception and his ensuing shot dropped between Jones’ pads in the crease where Ryan Spooner knocked it home for 1-0 lead.

The rest of the evening was the Jordan Caron show as he netted his first hat trick of the season. Caron, who spent time last season shuttling between Providence and Boston last year, picked up his first score on a two on one break when he beat Jones with wrister high stick side.

Goal number two came at 16:17 of first frame on a power play when Caron launched a one-timer from the right circle.

Down 3-0 after one, the Monarchs tried to mount a comeback with second period tallies from center Robbie Czarnik who tapped in an Andrei Loktionov pass and Richard Clune who knocked home a bad angle shot from Stefan Legein.

The scoring finished up late in stanza as both team traded goals with Caron netting his third of the night and Monarchs right winger Tyler Toffoli with his first of season.

Niklas Svedberg (1-0-0) got the call for the P-Bruins and notched his first victory stopping 30 of 33 shots. Jones stopped 13 of 17 on the night.